Eveline is a short story written by James Joyce, first published in 1904 by the journal “Irish

Homestead” and later included in his work entitled Dubliners, a collection of fifteen short stories
published in 1914 under the pseudonym of Stephen Daedalus, in which he represents the Irish
middle class life around the 20th century, focusing on his ideas of paralysis and epiphany. The
stories follow the four phases of human life: from childhood through to adolescence, to which
Eveline belongs, maturity and public life.
The story takes its title from the name of the protagonist Eveline, a nineteen-year-old girl who
lives in Dublin with her father, torn between pursuing the love of her life or keeping her sense of
duty towards her family.
The narration begins with the main character who sits by the window and starts thinking about
her happy childhood, when she used to play with other people’s children in the field in front of her
house, but since then everything has changed: her neighbors went back to England, her mother
and her brother Earnest died, her father started acting bad with her sons, so she sacrificed her life
to keep the family together like she promised to her mother on her deathbed, working hard both
at home and at work and giving all of her wage to her father. Now she has the opportunity to
change her life because of Frank, a sailor she met by chance because he was lodging in a house on
the main road where she used to visit. They start falling in love with each other, but her father
finds out their relationship and forbids her to see him again. As a consequence they begin to see
each other in secret, but because of his work Frank has to move to Buenos Ayres and asks her to
go away with him. His proposal makes her thoughtful and she starts walking around her house
observing carefully each object. While she is thinking about the right thing to do, she hears the
street organ playing in the avenue the same melody she heard the night her mother died which
reminds her of her last words "Deveraun Seraun" that convinces her to leave, to escape to get a
better life with Frank.
Before going away, she leaves two letters: one addressed to her father, the other one to her
brother.
She’s in station with Frank but while she's about to get on board she gets stuck and cannot move
even though Frank is calling her. He’s forced to go on without her, she keeps looking at his lover
but her eyes gives him no sign of love and no explanation.